UN experts dismayed by US sanctions against Palestinian human rights organisations
Press releases
Special Procedures
22 September 2025
GENEVA -- The decision by the United States to sanction three leading Palestinian human rights organisations, Al-Haq, Al-Mezan, and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, as part of its campaign to undermine the International Criminal Court's (ICC) work on Israel, is alarming and represents a direct attack on international justice, UN experts* warned today.
"These three organisations are among the oldest and most effective and reliable in covering human rights violations and abuses by all parties in the occupied Palestinian territories - they have been represented in international venues and they are globally respected," the experts said.
Al Haq, Al Mezan, and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights have filed observations to the ICC and provided documentation of Israeli violations against civilians in Gaza.
"The new sanctions on these key Palestinian organisations pursuant to Executive Order 14203 come at a time when many countries have begun to voice strong condemnation of Israeli attacks and killings of civilians in Gaza, the targeting of journalists and medical personnel, and restrictions on food aid resulting in famine being declared in the besieged enclave," the experts said. "Sanctioning organisations for denouncing human rights violations is a blatant violation of the rights to freedom of expression and association."
"Much of the international recognition of Israel's violations in Gaza is owed to the tireless work of Al-Haq, Al-Mezan, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights and others, which have documented and exposed the reality on the ground at a time when foreign journalists and observers are barred from entry," the experts said.
The sanctions follow those imposed on Addameer, a Palestinian human rights organisation which promotes and protects prisoners' rights, and which was added to the United States' Specially Designated Nationals list in June 2025. "Sanctions and designations are being misused in an effort to silence pro-Palestine voices and hinder international accountability."
"These organisations deserve to be supported and funded precisely because of their work at this time on Israeli violations in Gaza and in the West Bank," they said. "It is disgraceful that the US has chosen to do the opposite."
*The experts:
- Mary Lawlor, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders;
- Ben Saul, the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism;
- Francesca Albanese, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967;
- Gina Romero, the Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association.
Special Rapporteurs/Independent Experts/Working Groups are independent human rights experts appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council. Together, these experts are referred to as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. While the UN Human Rights office acts as the secretariat for Special Procedures, the experts serve in their individual capacity and are independent from any government or organization, including OHCHR and the UN. Any views or opinions presented are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the UN or OHCHR.
Country-specific observations and recommendations by the UN human rights mechanisms, including the special procedures, the treaty bodies and the Universal Periodic Review, can be found on the Universal Human Rights Index https://uhri.ohchr.org/en/.
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